The Pine Creek sophomore had just dropped the first set to Arapahoe freshman Tate Schroeder in the Class 5A No. 1 singles semifinals at Gates Tennis Center.

Kalhorn, the self proclaimed “old lady” of the singles elite regrouped mentally and rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory to earn a return trip to the finals on Saturday morning.

“It was more a matter of when the ibuprofin was going to kick in,” said Kalhorn, who tweaked something in her three set quarterfinal win over Denver East’s Bria Smith earlier in the morning.

“(Schroeder) was playing well, but after about four ibuprofin life got better and I could start running again.”

Kalhorn lost to Cherry Creek’s Kelli Woodman in last years final, and it was Schroeder who took out the defending champ in the quarters.

On Saturday, Kalhorn will play longtime friend Becca Weissmann of Loveland. The Indians freshman rolled into the finals with straight victories over Legend’s Madison Porter and then Fairview’s Katie Kuosman in the semis.

“I helped to already have a game plan in place for sure,” said Weissmann, who defeated Kuosman two weeks ago in the Front Range League championships. “I thought I played really well. I was striking the ball really well and stringing points together.”

Match of the day was at No. 3 singles. Fairview’s Katie Li had already dropped the first set to Cherry Creek’s Rachel Scheper and was down 5-1 in the second.

After fending off several match points, Li came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker and then closed it out with a 6-0 third set.

“I just started to realize that I really couldn’t control the outcome,” said Li, who will face Denver East’s Natalia Dellavalle in the finals. “Then I just sort of loosened up and started hitting faster.”

The team race will come down to the last day. Cherry Creek, winners of 16 straight team titles, have four in the finals and two still alive in the playbacks. The quest for 17 isn’t a sure thing. Fossil Ridge is alive thanks to its doubles teams.

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson had butterflies before Sunday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't because of the big-name opponent, but rather his return from a 13-game injury absence and being stoked to rejoin a team in a playoff push and looking for its third postseason appearance in 10 years.